Stoker



F. P. ROESCH Amis M, 19m.

STOKER Filed Dec. 17, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 14, 1931.

F. P. ROESCH STOKER 2 Sheets-Sheet z! Filed Deo. 17, 1925 Patentednpr. 1 5, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT v"ol-"FICE FRANK P. ROESCE OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'I0 STANDARD STOKER OOMPANY, INCORPORATED, 'A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE STOKECR This invention relates to locomotive stokers that are adapted to convey coal from the locomotive tender forward to the locomotive lire box, there to be distributed over the lire,

and its principal object is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of the stoker and it driving means. In stokers of this character heretofore used, it has been customary to mount the stoker w driving engine on the locomotive usually on the rear truck underneath the locomotive deck, and to provide a suitable driving connection between the engine and the rear end of the Stoker conveyer which is positioned von the tender. rI`he driving connection is a shaft having suitable universal connections therein to permit transmission of power dur-I ing relative movement between the locomotive and its tender. Such anvarrangement ao has the advantage that steam may be supplied to the engine through a relatively rigid supply pipe, in that the engine receives its steam supply from the locomotive. The advantagesderived from a relatively rigid steam supply pipe, however, are, I find, more than overbalanced by the disadvantages caused not only by the expense of providing the mechanical connection between the stoker engine and the conveyer, but also by the disadvantage that a flexible connection such as `must be employed will increase fluctuations in the power flow to the conveyer, as,'for instance, when the locomotive and tender have.

any appreciable vertical movement therebetween.

by transferring the flexible characteristic from the power transmission system to the steam supply line, not only to eliminate a material part` of this mechanical connection,

40 but also to eliminate that part which has been the cause of increasing the luctuations of power flow from the engine to the conveyer. Even though the necessity for a dex- -ible connection has not been eliminated, yet

,45 the transfer of this flexible characteristic from one element to the other, in my arrangement, permits the elimination of one source of power fluctuation, for the steam owing through the supply pipe will be substantially uniform irrespective of the degree of ilexi- In my arrangement, I am enabled bility thereof. Hence it is seen that I have imposed a flexible characteristic upon an element which, in the prior art, was relatively rigid, and vice versa, but by so doing I have accomplished the results above mentioned, 155

yand which could not be had with` the prior art arrangement.

More specically in accordance with my invention, I mount the Stoker driving engine: on'the tender preferably beneath the `tender en deck in advance of the water compartment.

I also, preferably, employ a stoker wherein the coal is forced througha conduit from the vcoal bin on the tender to the point in the locomotive lire box above the level of the lire by o5 means of a single horizontal conveyor screw located in the conduit, this screw being driven from a single point at its rear end. By employing this type of Stoker, and bj1-mountingf the driving engine on the tender, I not only 7o Amotive toward, and away from one another.

The stoker driving means is,.preferably a steam engine which is supplied with steam from the locomotive boiler by a pipe which extends from the locomotive to thetender and is'provided'with flexible joints of the usual standard type. This supply pipe may` also be provided with a valve conveniently at located in the locomotive cab, which valve controls the supply of steam to the stoker driving engine.,

@ther objects and advantages4 of my invention, will appear from the following description taken Vin connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of a locomotive and tender showing one form of my improved Stoker and driving means.

the coal bin.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section and partly broken away, of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawing, 10 represents a locomotive having a deck 11, a boiler re box 12 at the Arear of which is the usual water leg 13, and '15 represents the tender which is coupled to the locomotive by a gear 16, and which has a deck 17, coal bin 19 and a water tank 20, which embraces the rear' portion and sides of The coal bin is formed with inclined sides 21 and at its bottom with a trough 22 in which rotates the rear section 23 of the Stoker conveyor screw. A crusher 25 may be provided at the forward end of the conveyor screw section 23, and the conveyor screw is completed by two additional sections28 and 29.' Section 23 drives section 28 through a universal joint, not shown and section 28v-drives section 29 .through a uni versal joint not shown. Sections 28 and 29 are contained inhousings 31 and 32, respectively, and these housings are provided with universal joints and a telescopic joint of the form illustrated, as is customary in stokers of this character.

The forward end of the housing 32 is provided With an elbow 34 located in the ash pan and the elbow 34 communicates with a ris ing core tube 36 which terminates in a discharge mouth 37 in the fire box 12. The section 29 of the conveyor screw terminates near or in the elbow 34 at a point which permits the conveyor screw to force the coal through the elbow without causing it to pack beneath the screw 29 or to block its easy or smooth flow around the elbow and through the unobstructed core tube 36 to the discharge mouth 37.. 40 represents a protecting grate surround-ing the core tube 36, and 41 represents a which is adapted to be operated preferably from the tender deck by a handle 60 which is connected to the reversing valve through a bell-crank lever 61.

l claim The combination in a locomotive tender,

having a base ;\a body portion; and partition FRANK P. ROESCH.

steam jet distributor head, having radial nozzles adapted to form steam jets for distributing thecoal as it rises from the core tube 36 over the fire. The conveyor screw comprising sections 23, 28 and 29 and universal joints is driven from the rear end of section 23 by gears 45 and 46, these gears being driven from the engine 47 through shaft section 49 which is connected to the engine shaft by universal joint 51 and through shaft section 50, which is connected to-shaft section 49 by universal joint 52. The shaft section 49eXtendsl along the trough 22 between the trough and water tank 20, and the enginel 47, preferably, is located in a compartment beneath the tender deck just forward of the water tank, where it is supported on .the tender frame. Engine 47 is supplied with steam from the locomotive boiler by a pipe connection 55 which is provided withlexible joints 56 so as to allow for relative movement between the locomotive and tender. Supply of steam to the engine 47 maybe controlled by a' valve 58 conveniently' located in the locomotive cab.V 50 represents a reversing valve for the engin` 

